New 10 of the Month – Mo’Nique

February is Black History Month in America – and while I’m Canadian, so many of my friends and clients are down in the USA that I wanted to be sure to honor an African-American New 10 this month.

Although now that I have seen and experienced the phenomenon that is Mo’Nique, I know she would have been my New 10 any month of the year.

This has been as much of a surprise to me as anyone since a year ago; I had absolutely no idea who Mo’Nique was.  While she was a comedienne and a TV performer and had been famous for years in her own right, she had never exactly popped up on my radar before.

But that was before “Awards Season.”

Awards Season, in case you’re not much of a media junkie, is the time of year when the entertainment industry honors their top actors and other notables at a series of major ceremonies.  It’s the season of red carpets and designer gowns and Joan Rivers holding a microphone and asking “who are you wearing.”  And there, amidst all this typical Hollywood pageantry, this…person…sort of emerged.

She didn’t look like Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts.  She was African American, generously plus-sized and almost certainly over 40.

And she certainly didn’t have a Meryl Streep-type career.  She is largely a comedienne known for loud, over-the-top characters.

But there she was, nominated for a searing dramatic performance in “Precious” as possibly the worst abusive mother ever.  This role was so brutal some actresses would certainly be afraid to play it, yet Mo’Nique was brave enough to take it on as her first major dramatic role.  And suddenly, there she was, competing against a field of more polished, more famous, and certainly more traditional looking actresses.

And she topped them all.

When she was named Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globe Awards, her acceptance speech was so real and so beautiful – it took my breath away.  Her tears were as genuine as her shock, and her gratitude was so deep and profound – I just wanted to be there to hug her.   She radiated grace and compassion and love and everything a New 10 is all about, and it really touched me.

And there, surrounded by perfect, size zero, 27-year-old actresses, she was beautiful.

Why was I so moved by Mo’Nique?  I suppose because here was a woman who certainly didn’t have this level of success handed to her, who obviously never gave up, and who has, in one year, emerged as an incredible, unforgettable talent.  Watching her realize that her time has come, as she has taken home award after award, has made me feel proud and hopeful as a woman.  Her success reminds me that with that kind of passion and determination, nothing is impossible – for any of us.

So before she wins the Best Supporting Actress Oscar – which will likely happen next month – I want to give Mo’Nique yet another award and name her my New 10 for February, 2010.  Wherever her career goes from here, watching Mo’Nique celebrate her success has been a real inspiration to me, and I hope to women everywhere.

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